Papa
by greatbigbeautifultomorrow
Summary: Maya, Lucas, and Ginger are a family! And this is by far the fluffiest piece I will ever post, but I bet you can't read it without a huge, dorky grin on your face! You're welcome :)


**Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all of you kind words and sweet messages! You have no idea how much I appreciate them!**

 **So this is a super fluffy story for** ** _Pucca_** **, who reviewed my "Baby Love" story and asked if I could write one where Maya and Lucas act like total parents to Maya's ferret, Ginger. Sooooo here it is! I hope you like it!**

Maya walked aimlessly around the house. She felt lonely and lost, like something was missing. Something she had enjoyed having around for a couple days. Or someone, rater. Suddenly the house seemed much bigger, much emptier, much lonelier.

She sat down on the couch in the living room, looking around the room. Remembering. Thinking back to the weekend they had spent together. She wanted to describe it as perfect, but that was so completely inadequate.

"What's more than perfect?" she wondered aloud.

Her voice must have carried through the house because Ginger suddenly came running into the room. She made her way over to Maya, laying down heavily at her feet and looking up at her. Maya looked down at Ginger. She looked as sad as she felt herself.

"You miss him, too?" Maya nudged her gently with her toes. "You miss Lucas? You miss Papa?"

Ginger looked a bit more alert at the sound of Lucas's name, but she quickly laid her head back down right on Maya' feet.

"I miss him, too, baby," Maya said softly, reaching down to scratch Ginger. "I miss him, too."

—

They both had so many work commitments and plans and events and obligations. They each called each other once a day. They had set times, a plan. The fact that they had to schedule it irritated both of them, but they couldn't go an entire day without talking to each other, so they did what they had to do. But Maya had to put forth a great deal of effort to keep herself from calling him four or five times each day.

Luckily, Maya was kept busy. But every so often she would find herself back home. Feeling lonely and empty again. Wandering aimlessly. And Ginger would follow her, looking just as lonely. They both missed him.

But then he called and said he would be back in four days. And then he had six days free. Six completely free days. And by some miracle, their schedules lined up again. Maya had these same days free. They could be together for nearly an entire week.

"So," Lucas said slowly, checking his email to confirm his travel arrangements. "I land on Thursday at… 9:45 at night. Can you come pick me up then?"

"Absolutely," Maya said quickly. "I'll be there. And then," she added almost cautiously, afraid to get her hopes up, "six days? Together?"

"Six days," Lucas repeated, and Maya could hear him smile.

"We miss you," Maya said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"We?"

"We. Me and Ginger. We miss you."

Lucas laughed. "Well, tell her I miss her, too."

"Here she is," Maya said, as she put the phone next to Ginger. "Hey, baby," Maya said excitedly, turning the phone away from her face. "He's coming back. Papa will be here soon."

"What did you say?" Lucas asked curiously. "Who will be there soon?"

Maya suddenly realized how she had slipped up. She was used to saying that around the house when Lucas wasn't there. "You," she said, trying to sound confused and attempting to cover her mistake. "I said, 'Lucas will be here soon.'"

"Okay," Lucas said slowly, not sounding convinced, but adding, "that's what I thought you said."

"So, Thursday night, 9:45. I'll be there."

"Good. I can't wait to see you. I need to get some sleep, but we'll talk to tomorrow?"

"Of course. I love you, Huckleberry."

"I love you more, Shortstack."

—

Maya spent the next four days trying to keep herself busy. It was proving to be a very challenging task. She cleaned the house, went to the gym, made a grocery list for what she wanted to cook when he arrived, and paced around the house. She spent a lot of time pacing.

When she couldn't spend any more of Thursday wandering around the house, she finally left. She was going to be early to the airport. But she would rather wait there for him than spend more time in the emptiness.

"I'll be back soon," Maya said, reaching down quickly to grab Ginger and cuddle her before putting her in her cage, then grabbing her keys. "Papa's coming home."

When she got to the airport, she still had forty-five minutes before his flight arrived. So she took a seat near the the baggage claim with the blue 5 on the sign, the one where he had to pick up his bags, and she waited. Then she paced some more. But eventually she settled into a seat and remained there. Keeping to herself and keeping quiet. Not drawing attention to herself. She knew she would have to contain her excitement as best as she could when she saw him so they didn't cause a scene in the airport. And when she saw him coming down the steps not fifty feet from where she sat, she almost leapt up and ran to him.

Instead, she walked calmly and patiently to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as he reached the ground, she wrapped her arms around him as he lifted her slightly off the ground. She gave him a simple hug while still trying to convey all of her feelings.

"I love you so much," he whispered in her ear.

"Good," Maya whispered back, looking up and smiling at him as they broke apart.

It was another forty minutes before they were finally back in Maya's car. As soon as both of their doors were closed, Lucas took her face in his hands and kissed her, much more effectively expressing just how much he loved her and missed her.

They drove all the way back to Maya' house, her right hand never leaving his as he grazed his fingertips along her arm. And when they finally made it home, Maya took on of Lucas's bags and moved so quickly, he had to run to catch up.

"Wait for me," Lucas said with a giggle, hurrying along behind her.

As soon as they opened the front door, Ginger begin rattling around in her cage. Maya opened the door and Ginger ran right past he and directly to Lucas. Lucas immediately crouched down and pulled her into his arms.

"Oh, I missed you, too, Ginger. I missed you, too. Have you been keeping your mama good company for me?"

"She tried," Maya said, setting down Lucas's bag and joining them. "But she likes you better. You're happy he's home, aren't you?" Maya crouched down, too, reaching out to scratch Ginger head. "You're happy Papa's home."

"I thought that's what you said," Lucas said with a smile, turning to look at Maya.

Maya quickly tried to cover this up again. "What did I say?"

"You called me Papa," Lucas said slowly, his smile growing wider. "That's what you said to her."

"Well," Maya said with a shrug, trying to joke her way out of it, "Lucas is very hard for her to say, and so is Huckleberry and Ranger Rick, so…" Her voice trailed off. She knew she had already lost just seeing the smile on his face.

"I like it," Lucas said, taking Maya' hand and pulling her to her feet with him. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest. "I like it. I like our little family."

Maya reached up on her tippy toes and kissed him softly on the cheek before smiling into the crook of his neck. "I like our little family, too."


End file.
